Celestial Shard
by Felineheart
Summary: There is a legend about a Celestial shard. The Celestial shard is a piece of an ancient Celestial jewel called the Hōgyoku. The shard had the power to change into any form. It chose the form of a baby with fiery orange hair.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do own Bleach. I just own a laptop, word, and my imagination. Idea spawned from The Prince and the Pauper by Iamtall**

**Setting: This story is set in a spirit kingdom. The Gotei 13 are basically the royal guard/army**.

**Author's Note: This whole chapter is basically a prologue. Please review**

Prolouge

_There is a legend about a Celestial shard. The Celestial shard is a piece of an ancient Celestial jewel called the Hōgyoku. The Hōgyoku was said to be so powerful that the king demanded the gods take it back. Loki was a mischievous god and he broke off a piece of the Hōgyoku. _

_The shard had the power to change into any form. It remained as a shard for two centuries before it chose to take the form of a baby, a baby with fiery orange hair and warm honey eyes. Loki was delighted with the shards new form. He placed the baby in a basket and dropped him off at the palace in the form of a peasant woman._

_Queen Masaki was the first to find the nameless baby. Delighted she rushed the child to her husband, King Isshin. They had always wanted a child and immediately welcomed the baby into their family. Queen Masaki named the boy Ichigo because it meant protector. Neither the King nor the Queen realized that the baby they held in their arms was the famed Celestial shard. _

Fifteen years later

Ichigo walked in to the 6th divison office which was currently unoccupied.

Byakuya the captain of the 6th division and Renji the lieutenant of the 6th division were training new recruits.

He walked over to an empty patch of wall and let himself slide to the floor.

He took out a sketch book that his mother had bought for his last birthday.

"Why are you in my office your highness?" Byakuya asked after he spotted Ichigo on the floor.

"I am hiding from goat face", Ichigo said which was true.

Although his father was a wise king, he acted like crazy child half the time.

"You should not call your father goat face", Byakuya said with a frown. "You should be more respectful"

"If he didn't embarrass me and my sisters every time we are together, I would not call him goat face", Ichigo said as he continue d to draw in his sketch book.

Byakuya sighed, the boy had a point. The king tended to act like a lunatic in front of his children.

Ichigo was the eldest at fifteen while his twin sisters were eleven. Queen Masaki could not have children, so all three were adopted.

"Who are you drawing my prince?" Byakuya asked curiously.

"You", Ichigo said as a light blush touched his cheeks.

Byakuya pretended not to notice the blush.

He cared about the prince in a way he shouldn't of.

In his eyes Ichigo was still a child.

Let's not forget he was a prince.

Even though Byakuya was a noble, he still considered the prince untouchable.

He thought that Ichigo should marry another prince or princess.

"Ichigo it's been a while", Renji said after walking into the office.

Renji had bright red hair like a tomato.

His hair went past his shoulders when it wasn't put up.

"Wanna spar Ichi?" Renji asked with a lop sided grin.

Byakuya rolled his eyes.

He had given up on trying getting Renji to address Ichigo properly.

"Sure", Ichigo replied.

His sword was right next to him, normally he carried it on his back.

Not many could wield his sword because it was large and heavy.

Each sword was infused with energy from their wielder and spirit particles, which gave it certain abilities.

Ichigo's sword could shrink and give him immense speed.

Ichigo set his sketch book and pencil on Renji's desk.

"I'll race you to the sparring ground", Ichigo said with a laugh before running out the room with his sword on his back.

"Huh… Hey that's cheating " , Renji yelled as he took chase.

A month later 

Ichigo stood on his balcony in the dead of night.

He couldn't sleep; he had been having issues sleeping for the last month.

His dreams had become nightmares, filled with screams and the sound of swords clashing together.

Something was coming.

He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt.

He felt that the coming on conflict was because of him but he didn't know why.

It was frustrating, to feel guilty and not know why.

He walked back into his room and sighed before getting dressed.

He was going for a walk.

King Isshin had been walking around the castle and he spotted Ichigo walking out of his room.

He tried to tackle his eldest son but was foiled when Ichigo kicked him in the face.

"Are trying to wake everyone up goat face", Ichigo said in a harsh whisper.

"My children are so mean to me", Isshin cried while Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Why are you up so late goat face?" Ichigo asked quietly.

"I could ask you the same thing", Isshin replied seriously as he got up.

"Something is coming", Ichigo mumbled before walking down the hall.

He didn't want to talk about it, especially not with his insane father.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own bleach. I just own a laptop, word, and my imagination. **

**Author's note {1}: Sorry it took so long**

**Author's note {2}: Oooh who are the traitors. And I am telling you right now AIzen is not one of them actually Aizen isn't even the 5****th**** squad's captain. I am using him somewhere else**

**{}[]{}[]{}[]{}**

A year later

Ichigo hissed as he felt claws dig into his soft flesh. He brought his sword down on the monster. Its scream pierced the air as it died, turning into black dust. His honey brown eyes looked behind him at his two sisters. He had to protect them, he had to. Poison raced through his veins, making it a race against time.

"Run, run now", Ichigo said loudly as another monster attacked.

Karin, the bravest of his sisters, refused but Yuzu grabbed her hand and dragged her away.

The monsters were called hollows.

They had arrived a year ago on the eve of Ichigo's sixteenth birthday.

Flashback 

_Ichigo smiled as he heard his mother laugh. He had been complaining about his father's earlier antics._

_They were alone walking the trail that led to Urahara's shop. Urahara was a strange man who had befriended his family a long time ago. One of the children Urahara took care of had fallen ill. So ichigo and his mother were going to retrieve his birthday present and say hello._

_Suddenly a monster appeared on the trail._

_It was a pitch black creature with two legs and four arms. A pure white mask adorned its face._

_Queen Masaki's eyes widened in fear she hadn't seen a hollow in over twenty years._

_The hollow let out an inhuman shriek before running in Ichigo's direction._

_Ichigo stood frozen fear for a few seconds as his mother screamed at him to run. He did not have his weapon because he was behind the walls that protected the inner city of his kingdom. They should have been safe. Someone had let them in._

_The will to survive and protect his mother kicked in, he ran intent on drawing the monster away from his tripped and fell._

_Queen Masaki screamed before throwing herself in the monster's path as Urahara came to investigate the scream._

_Ichigo was helpless to save his mother as she fell to the ground gasping her last breaths. He ignored his own safety and ran to his mother._

_Urahara ran to them hoping to get them in time._

_Ichigo unconsciously granted his mother's unspoken wish, for him to live._

_Dark reddish black energy swirled around him and his dying mother before it touched the monster turning it to dust instantly._

_Queen Masaki died in Ichigo's arms._

End flashback

Ichigo cursed as the hollow tried to follow after his sisters. He intercepted the hollow killing it. Pain raced through his veins as the movement made the poison move faster. Dammit I can't die now, he thought. He fell to one knee panting as his vision swam.

He heard footsteps and saw a dark blob moving toward him. He honestly thought it was another hollow but was proved wrong when the figure gently held him.

"Your highness? " The figure said worry evident in his voice. He knew that voice, it belonged to Byakuya.

"Bya.." Ichigo said weakly as the world faded away.

Five hours later

Unohana captian of the fourth division and the royal healer, was astonished. She was sure she had just witnessed a miracle. The young prince had been rushed to her division and he had been near death. She had done everything she could but nothing helped. She had been one hundred percent sure that the prince was going to die.

The king had sat near his bedside praying that his son would live. All of a sudden powerful energy filled the room in waves. Every wave pushed poison out of his body through the pores in his skin. Ichigo whimpered throughout the process but refused to cry even though he was in agonizing pain.

Unohana stood in the door way of Ichigo's room. She watched him sleep peacefully. The boy was special that was for sure.

Dream

Ichigo opened his eyes and found himself sitting under a blossoming cherry tree.

"Hello Ichigo", said a woman who had suddenly appeared next to him. Ichigo let out a manly squeak as he quickly stood up. "Ow" His head hit a low branch. "You almost gave me a heart attack", Ichigo said annoyed. The woman giggled much to Ichigo's embarrassment. "Why are you here…. Am I dead?" Ichigo asked.

"Your so cute", the woman said as she squished Ichigo into her bosom. "You're not dead I just came to tell you something"

"Let *muf* go *agh*can't *mrft*", Ichigo said against the woman's breasts. The woman giggled as she let him go. Ichigo gasped in much needed air, why did women always want to see if they could kill him with their breasts.

"What did you want to tell me?" Ichigo said with a frown.

"You have traitors within your kingdom", the woman said as she suddenly became serious. "They will not be who you expect them to be. One of them must be saved"

The news of traitors did not shock him. But what did she mean they wouldn't be who he expected… wait what else did she said. "What you mean I have to save a traitor?"

"Exactly what I saved.. oh our time is up", the woman said before disappearing..

"Wait you can't just leave", Ichigo said frustrated. The world went dark.

End dream and end chappie


End file.
